The Hacker

Michel Amato, working under the alias the Hacker, absorbed the dominant currents of 1980s electro and new wave as a French producer. His visibility within the electro-clash and neo-electro movements rose sharply after he joined Miss Kittin for the 2001 single "Frank Sinatra." He had entered the music industry in the mid-1990s with Benoit Bollini, who performed as the Futurist, through the hardcore techno project XMF. Progressive shifts in taste carried him from Duran Duran to Cabaret Voltaire and then to Jeff Mills and LFO, steering him toward the established Detroit approach to techno. Beginning in 1995 he adopted the Hacker name for his increasingly minimal material, and in 1998 he launched his own imprint, GoodLife, taking the title from Inner City's major club success. The same year saw the start of his ongoing association with Miss Kittin; together they issued the Champagne EP on DJ Hell's International Deejay Gigolos label. GoodLife brought out his debut album, Melodies en Sous-Sol, in 2000, at which point his attention had turned to Detroit's electro-techno acts such as Drexciya and Dopplereffekt. Growing European demand for this sound helped make the Hacker and Miss Kittin's "Frank Sinatra" an immediate dancefloor favorite after its 2001 release. Their first full-length project, The First Album, appeared that year and preceded a worldwide tour in 2002; once the tour concluded, the Hacker concentrated again on solo activity. Remixes, 12-inch releases, and club appearances occupied him until 2004, when Reves Mechaniques came out on GoodLife/Different. Two years later he assembled the mix CD The Hacker A.N.D. N.O.W...., placing classic electro acts such as Front 242 and Model 500 beside newer names including Ellen Allien and the Revolving Eyes.